1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an improved end knife guard for a cutterbar assembly and in particular to the end knife guard of a cutterbar assembly in a harvesting platform and the relationship of the knife guard with a divider cover at the end of the platform.
2. Description of Prior Art
A typical harvesting platform is provided with an elongated cutterbar assembly along a front edge of the platform for cutting a standing crop. The cutterbar assembly comprises a steel support bar, a series of knife guards, a knife back, a series of knives attached to the knife back and a series of hold down clips that hold the knives against the knife guards. The knife guards are mounted to the support bar. Each of the guards is provided with a channel in which the knife back is slidably positioned. In addition, each guard is provided with a slot having ledger plates into which the knives are slidably positioned. A series of triangular knives are bolted to the knife back while the hold down clips are bolted to the support bar and extend forward over the knife back into contact with the knives for holding the knives against the ledger plates of the knife guards. The cutting edges of the knives and the ledger plates cooperate to shear the standing crop.
At the end of a cutterbar assembly, such as the non-driven end, the slot in the guard is open at the end of the cutterbar assembly. Plant material, in the form of trash, collects within the slot. Since the slot is open at the end, the trash is able to move through the slot to the outboard edge of the guard where the trash is discharged from the slot.
Harvesting platforms are equipped with crop dividers at each end of the platform that divide the standing crop, into crop that will be cut by the platform on the present pass and the adjacent crop that will not be cut on the present pass. The crop divider typically includes a cover that forms the body of the divider and covers an end portion of the cutterbar assembly. Since it is desirable to minimize the width of the divider, the outer wall of the cover is closely spaced to the end of the cutterbar assembly. This close spacing can prevent adequate discharge of trash from the slot the end knife guard of the cutterbar assembly.